Our School

Welcome to the AY Jackson Secondary School website! As you read through the pages of this site, you will learn about our students, our school, and get a feel for our school community and the commitment to excellence that defines AY Jackson. AY opened in 1976. We have had 40 years of positive contributions to the Glen Cairn and South Kanata community.

At AY we charge our students with 3 tasks. Firstly, to be global citizens and to develop global perspectives in all that they do. We expect them to contribute positively to the lives of others. We see service to others as critical steps in achieving excellence. Secondly, we challenge our students to be a positive force! Many of our most successful initiatives from charity events to community fundraising are student-led projects which have created a legacy of service and achievement. Finally, we expect that all members of the AY community will respect everybody, every day, all of the time.

Our current School Learning Plan is designed to foster the achievement of all students. We are currently focusing in three key areas, which include:

Ensuring all students are well educated regarding their options for post-secondary pathways including employment, apprenticeships, training, college and university

Ensuring that the development of Literacy and Numeracy skills is a whole school, cross-curricular endeavor

Promoting a culture of wellbeing with all members of the AY community that puts physical and mental health first in our learning and decision making

Our staff and students have also continued our tradition of strong leadership programs and initiatives. Some of our current initiatives include:

A very active and open Diversity Club promoting positive values, inclusion and appreciation of persity. AY is home for students and staff of all gender expression and orientations.

A Man-Up group was formed last year and is continuing to grow and provide positive, prosocial leadership to the men of AY through leadership and educational forums. .

Next year, our students and staff will be participating in Sources of Strength training. This program, which is new to AY, exists to provide the highest quality evidence-based prevention for suicide, violence, bullying and substance abuse by training, supporting, and empowering both peer leaders and caring adults to impact their world through the power of connection, hope, help and strength.

As you navigate around our website, you will see more pages which include information from our Students’ Council & our School Council, as well as overviews of our programs in Academics, Fine Arts and Athletics. Each of these pages will tell you about the teams, bands, clubs and programs that exist to promote our students’ leadership and personal development. These opportunities add value to the learning experience and complement our core academic programs. Thank you for taking time to visit our site. We look forward to welcoming you to AY Jackson in the future.